Chairman of Egyptian stock exchange Mohammed Abdel Salam denied Tuesday that the government will impose taxes on capital gains or Bourse profits.
"This news is completely false, it only reflects the personal opinion of who said it," Mohamed Abdel Salam told the national press agency MENA.
The Bourse chairman’s statement came a day after an announcement published under the name of the minister of social solidarity, Gouda Abdel-Khaleq, who seemed to say that a new tax would be introduced on Bourse profits and capital gains in general.
Demands to impose such taxes as well, as progressive taxes on revenues, have been frequently raised in recent years. Many believe it is unfair that an employee earning LE5,000 per year pays taxes while an investor in the stock market, who gains millions from selling shares, pays no taxes. In addition, profits from selling assets are not taxed in Egypt.
The minister of social solidarity said recently that the government is revising the taxation law on revenue to make it more progressive. It’s a long-standing demand for economists, since the last amendments made to income taxes were in 2005, when it was reduced from 40 to 20 per cent for any person with income over LE40,000 per year.
The minister of Social Solidarity said the exemption level will be raised from LE5,000 per person and LE9,000 per family per year to LE18,000. Nobody has yet denied these figures.
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